Iowa dispatched Purdue by 20 points locking up their first division title since the Big Ten went to divisions (sorry, they never won a Legends title) and now they await their opponent.  Michigan St. upsetting the Buckeyes on a last second field goal changed the outlook of the East division.  Now if Michigan St. handles Penn St. this weekend it’s the Spartans heading to Indianapolis to take on the Hawkeyes but if Sparty loses the winner of the Ohio St.-Michigan matchup wins the East.  I had been saying all week that Iowa needed Ohio St. to stay unbeaten and meet up with the Hawkeyes in Indy in order for Iowa to earn a shot at the College Football Playoff by beating the Buckeyes.  That is no longer the case because of a few things that happened this weekend.  First Ohio St. and Oklahoma St. lost meaning Iowa and Clemson are the only Power 5 schools left undefeated (Houston was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten also but that didn’t really change anything).  If Iowa beats Nebraska it no longer matters which team they play in the Big Ten Championship because there is no way the College Football Playoff Committee is leaving an undefeated Big Ten Champion out of the Top 4 if they are one of only two undefeated teams in the FBS (assuming Clemson stays unbeaten).  It’s conceivable the Committee could take one or even two 1-loss teams over the Hawkeyes but if they take three Jim Delaney will nuke the Committee.  The second thing that happened was Notre Dame’s awful showing against Boston College Saturday night at Fenway Park.  The Irish looked horrible turning the ball over 5 times and only escaped with a 3-point win because BC is terrible this year.  I think the Committee might downgrade the Irish this week in the rankings but even if they don’t if the Irish play this week against Stanford the way they played against BC it will be a moot point, you don’t survive against a good team turning the ball over that much.  Iowa moved ahead of Notre Dame in both the AP and Coaches’ Polls this week up to #3 and I think they might leapfrog the Irish in the eyes of the Committee too.  I haven’t tried to predict what the CFP Committee will do but I wouldn’t be surprised if the rankings this week are 1. Clemson 2. Alabama 3. Iowa 4. Oklahoma 5. Notre Dame and that would be a tenuous hold on #5 for the Irish as Baylor will be nipping at their heels.

Iowa is a legitimate contender and they have done an excellent job of being laser focused on the each individual week.  This week it is a Nebraska team that is hoping to play spoiler and earn bowl eligibility.  Those may be motivating factors for the Huskers but the Hawkeyes are looking at a possible undefeated season and shot at the Playoffs if they can beat Nebraska and win in Indy.  This game isn’t going to come down to motivation because both teams have something to play for meaning it’s going to come down to who is the better team and Iowa is clearly the better team this season.  The Hawkeyes have won some tough road games this year and they have won ugly at times but all that matters is that they have done nothing but win.

College Football Hott Reads

• The Iowa St. Cyclones have relieved Paul Rhoads of his duties at the end of the year.  I didn’t know if AD Jamie Pollard would pull the plug on Rhoads given the money he is owed on the contract Pollard gave him and the fact that there are a lot of job openings but I guess blowing a huge lead to KSU was the final straw.  Rhoads tried the old “fire the coordinator and blame everything on him” a few weeks ago but it wasn’t enough and now Pollard is on to another coaching search.  There are a boatload of jobs available that are better than the Iowa St. job (seriously I’m not going to list them all) so Pollard has his work cut out for him.  He has no shot at the hot young head coaches (Tom Herman, Justin Fuente, Matt Campbell or PJ Fleck) because there are too many good jobs and not enough young guns to fill them.  I’m not sure he’ll have much luck with hot coordinators either like TCU’s Doug Meachum, Baylor’s Kendal Briles or Oregon’s Scott Frost because as guys like Herman, Fuente, Campbell and Fleck move up those jobs open up for those coordinators.  His best bet is an older coach at a small school.  James Madison’s Everett Withers (52), Illinois St’s Brock Spack (53) or Georgia Southern’s Willie Fritz (55) could be had and all three are good coaches.  The only problem is these three have been around long enough to know how hard of a job Iowa St. really is.  I will be interested to see which direction Pollard goes and who he eventually ends up with.  If he calls and asked my advice (as all College AD’s and NFL GM’s should) I would tell him to target Southern Miss coach Todd Monken or Miami Dolphins Senior Offensive Assistant Ken O’Keefe (I’m joking about one of those names).  A couple of names that might not inspire a lot of confidence but are better coaches than they get credit for would be former Michigan coach Brady Hoke and LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, the Cyclones have done worse.  I do love the fact that some Cyclone fans are delusional enough to think they have a shot at Les Miles if he parts ways with LSU.
• Syracuse decided to throw their hat into the circus ring that is sure to be this off season’s coaching carousel when they fired Scott Shafer.  Shafer replaced his former boss Doug Marrone when he left to take the Buffalo Bills job a few years ago, yeah neither of those things worked out well.  Maybe Syracuse should call Marrone up again since he’s now the offensive line coach of the Jaguars.
• Supposedly LSU is getting tired of winning a lot with Les Miles as head coach and they want to try to win more with someone else.  I’m not sure what makes them think Nick Saban or Jimbo Fisher are actually going to take the job and leave their cushy positions at Alabama and Florida St. to take over the Tigers but they need to be careful what they wish for.  When they strike out on Saban and Fisher (who are sure to use the LSU job to get raises into the $10 million/year range) they are just as likely to end up with the next Gerry Dinardo as they are the next Saban.  Dinardo had a couple of good years (’96 &’97) in Baton Rogue but it was Saban and then Miles that made LSU an SEC power.

NFL Hott Reads

• Brock Osweiler replaced Peyton Manning in the starting lineup for the Broncos this week and he played well.  He threw for 250 yards and 2 TDs and didn’t have an interception so that was new for Denver’s offense.  Gary Kubiak already announced Osweiler will start next Sunday night against the Patriots as Manning still has a foot issue.  Let’s be real, Kubiak is moving on to QB that is a better fit to run the offense he wants to run.  Manning apparently wants to play next year even though it looks like a long shot that he’ll be back in Denver.  Manning may want to play another year but his age, his injury history and his performance are going to make it tough to get someone to want him as their QB.  Although he is tight with the Browns owner so maybe Manning can fill in as GM, head coach, offensive coordinator and starting QB.  He should host SNL again too.
• The NFL is down to 2 unbeaten teams, the Patriots which isn’t much of a surprise and the Carolina Panthers which kind of is.  Ron Rivera should be running away with Coach of the Year honors.  Cam Newton would be a shoo-in for MVP if this were a normal year but Tom Brady is running away with that award.

Congratulations to Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes because no matter what happens from here on out this has been a season for the ages.  Ferentz has pulled off a turnaround that no other college coach has ever done.  He went from overpaid hot seat coach to a guy that has cemented his legacy at Iowa.  He turned his program around not once (when he first arrived and Hayden had left the cupboard pretty bare), not twice (when the highs of the early 2000’s teams turned into the slump from 2005-2007) but three times (after the low point of 2012’s 4-8 record was followed up with two lackluster seasons).  The offense is better, the defense is better (the Indiana and Minnesota games not withstanding) and the special teams has been fantastic.  In a few instances Ferentz has had no choice but to play players that are major upgrades over last year’s team.  No offense to Mark Weisman but LeShun Daniels, Jordan Canzeri, Akrum Wadley and Derrick Mitchell are all better options at RB.  At punt returner Desmond King is in a completely different league than Kevonte Martin-Manley was and the graduation of John Lowdermilk was a gift as Miles Taylor is a gigantic upgrade.  Ferentz made some choices, none bigger than the one to go with CJ Beathard over Jake Rudock, and it was as much about him making a choice as it was about whom he chose.  Picking Dillon Kidd over Connor Kornbrath at punter doesn’t get as much attention but it has been a huge change for special teams.  Back in January when Ferentz said that he needed to “spend more time in the building” meaning he had somewhat gotten away from his coaching duties and he felt he needed to put more emphasis on it I thought it was just more coachspeak but now I don’t think it was.  Ferentz has always been a good man and I think the disappointment of last year was his wake up call and he realized that he wasn’t coaching he was just being Coach.

The game against Minnesota was a contrast because it was a thing of beauty to watch Iowa’s offense bulldoze over the Gophers and watching a healthy LeShun Daniels run downhill all day long is just fun.  That was in stark contrast to watching the Iowa defense look like they were on skates and rolling backwards all day as Minnesota scored almost at will.  The Hawkeyes should have had the game put away a number of times but the defense played it’s worst game of the year.  Minnesota QB Mitch Leidner looked like a Heisman candidate and Iowa’s defensive line couldn’t touch him.  It didn’t help that LB Cole Fisher and CB Greg Mabin couldn’t cover anyone, I’m still trying to figure out how they were so consistently blowing coverage.  I don’t mean to call out two guys and blame everything on them because it was a collective terrible effort by the defense those two just stuck out a little bit more than others.  The defensive line couldn’t get pressure and both DTs Jaleel Johnson and Nathan Bazata were dominated inside like they haven’t been all year.  I guess this time it was the offense’s turn to bail out the defense and it’s not like they didn’t owe the defense one (remember the Wisconsin game).

This weekend the Hawkeyes can clinch the B1G West Division title with a win over Purdue.  The Boilermakers have played a few teams tough but this Iowa team is built to destroy them.  Purdue is 113th out of 128 teams against the run and they give up over 210 yards per game.  They are middle of the pack on offense and while they lit up Nebraska’s defense Iowa’s D is much better (assuming they play better than they did against Minnesota).  They have a new QB David Blough that has given them a spark but he’s a redshirt freshman and doesn’t have a ton of experience.  Their offensive line is not nearly as good as the Indiana or Minnesota lines Iowa just faced.  It’s supposed to be cold and windy and the exact type of game Iowa is built to win.  Run the ball, sustain drives and play shut down defense and West Title is Iowa’s.

I find it funny that people are worried about going on the road to Nebraska on Black Friday because Nebraska will be motivated to play spoiler, end Iowa’s undefeated season and they will be playing for bowl eligibility.  Somehow playing for a chance to make the Heart of Dallas Bowl is going to be a bigger motivating factor for the Huskers than Iowa playing for an undefeated regular season and worst case scenario going to the Rose Bowl?  I’m ready to watch the Hawkeyes run all over Purdue (the betting line started at Iowa as 17 point favorites, Vegas isn’t scared of the Boilermakers) and then we can worry about Black Friday.

College Football Hott Reads  (short and sweet)

• Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel announced he is retiring after the season because he has cancer and while it’s treatable and his prognosis seems good he wants to devote his time to beating the cancer and spending time with his family.  Pinkel is 63 years old and I wish him the best.  Not a lot of coaches would walk away but he has his priorities straight and he’s earned his time with his family.
• The Heisman voting is going to be interesting.  Early front runner Leonard Fournette has gone MIA in LSU’s two big LOSSES.  TCU’s Trevone Boykin is injured and they lost ugly too.  It might be Alabama RB Derrick Henry, it might be Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield or it might be Clemson QB Deshaun Watson but my vote is still going to Iowa CB Desmond King.  Okay I don’t actually get a vote but I still have an opinion.

NFL Hott Reads

• Peyton Manning was benched this week and while he is now out with a foot injury, trust me it wasn’t the foot that got him benched.  Manning completed 5 passes for 35 yards and threw 4 picks and he was benched.  The end is near, like standing behind you tapping you on the shoulder near.
• Brian Hoyer had been playing pretty well for the Texans and then he got knocked out of this week’s game with a concussion.  Things are so bad in Houston at QB they signed Brandon Weeden.  Yikes.  Bill O’Brien will draft a new QB in 2016 unless he decides to head back to the college game.  With so many top job openings O’Brien will have many options if he lets it be known he’s interested.
• The Titans fired Ken Whisenhunt before he even made it two years as head coach.  Mike Mularkey is the interim coach and while he hardly is exciting things were not going in the right direction with Whisenhunt and the Titans can’t allow Marcus Mariota to suffer with a coach he doesn’t fit with.
• The Saints finally put defensive coordinator Rob Ryan (yes Rex’s twin brother) out of his misery, maybe it was Sean Payton’s misery, it certainly was Saints’ fans misery because the defense was awful.  Former Raider head coach (and one time very good Bronco defensive coordinator) Dennis Allen was given the task of fixing the defense.  Good luck to him, the Saints defense is the third biggest disaster to hit New Orleans, right after Katrina and the oil spill.

Leave it to Kirk Ferentz and his Hawkeyes to get my hopes up.  The biggest hurdle standing in the Hawkeye’s way to an undefeated 12-0 regular season was the road game against the high scoring Indiana Hoosiers and they handled it beautifully.  Akrum Wadley got Iowa off to a quick start with a 65 yard TD run on the second play from scrimmage and while Indiana bounced back and even had a lead for a while the Hawkeyes and QB CJ Beathard never panicked and they wore down the Hoosiers.  Beathard still has a groin injury but don’t tell him that as he did his best Superman impression for one score and later iced the game with a nice run after a play-action to LeShun Daniels and got the first down.  Speaking of Daniels he played a solid game complementing Akrum Wadley at first and then when Wadley got banged up Daniels stepped in.  He rushed for 78 yards and 2 TDs and looked like the power back he was before his ankle injury.  This game was as tough as people thought but Iowa’s combination of running the ball, Beathard’s efficiency in the passing game (and some timely running) and a defense that slowed the Hoosiers and made them earn every yard was enough to pull it out.

This weekend both Minnesota and Nebraska looked better than they have before and those two teams will both be looking to spoil Iowa’s undefeated run (Purdue will want to too but that game is less worrisome).  The Gophers are all heart at the moment but they just aren’t that good.  They will fight tooth and nail but in Iowa City at night this weekend just seems like a lot to ask so I see Floyd coming home.  Nebraska has lost some damn close games this season and they finally got a break this weekend with a blown call by the officials.  The officials were correct in saying that the WR on that last pass re-established himself with two feet inbounds before he caught that ball and the replay confirmed it, however, it was the official’s initial call that the WR was pushed out-of-bounds that didn’t actually happen.  They couldn’t review that part apparently so they let the play stand.  It’s okay by me because Michigan St. now is out of the undefeated ranks and won’t be able to snake the Rose Bowl out from under Iowa if the Big Ten title game doesn’t go the Hawks way.

The path to the Rose Bowl cleared up quite nicely this weekend for the Hawkeyes and while I’m hoping Iowa wins the Big Ten Championship if they get to that game undefeated the worst case scenario is a trip to Pasadena.  If  an undefeated Iowa team meets an undefeated Ohio St. team in the Big Ten title game the winner is headed to the College Football Playoff and the loser is heading to the Rose Bowl.  There is still 3 weeks to go and Ohio St. has to get through Michigan St. and Michigan to end the year and Iowa has to survive a trip to Lincoln on Black Friday but I can see this happening.

In an attempt to make the college football talking heads explode the College Football Playoff Committee moved Iowa all the way up to #5 in their rankings.  Iowa is 9-0 and has beaten two ranked opponents on the road and Pitt at home so anyone that thinks their resume doesn’t measure up needs to find a new measuring stick.

MLB Hott Read

• Congrats to the Kansas City Royals on their World Series victory.  Now spend some money to keep them together.

College Football Hott Reads

• The President of the University of Missouri system Tim Wolfe resigned under pressure from protests on campus.  This is a sports story because the protests have been going on for a few weeks but it wasn’t until this weekend that the Tiger’s football team said they wouldn’t participate in any football activities until Wolfe resigned.  The national attention shining down and the potential of the Missouri football game against BYU in Kansas City this weekend being cancelled was the tipping point.  I have only read some of the stories about the racial issues the Missouri administration seemed to be ignoring so I’m not completely up to speed on this but I applaud the football players for taking a stand on something they believe in.  It’s about time college athletes used the money they generate for the University for their own cause.  It would have cost the school at least $1 million if they didn’t play that game, that certainly got someone’s attention.
• Speaking of clueless administrators Illinois relieved AD Mike Thomas of his duties after their internal investigation of their coaching issues showed Thomas didn’t actually do anything wrong he just didn’t do anything to correct the behavior of some of his coaches and his firing of football coach Tim Beckman just before the season started wasn’t enough.  If you want to check out some of the appalling allegations against Beckman you can find them all over the internet but let me sum it up for you.  He cared more about trying to win than he did about the health of the guys playing for him.  Amazingly enough this didn’t help him win games and if anyone anywhere ever hires Tim Beckman to coach football again they should be prosecuted for endangering the lives of children.  The report found that Beckman willfully pushed injured players to play and not just guys with hamstring pulls or sprained ankles, players with neck and head injuries.  He also went through a number of head athletic trainers until he found one that went along with him, I hope to hell that guy loses his license.  Way to go Mr. Beckman (I will not refer to him as Coach) you played with the health of young men so you could go 12-25 in your time at Illinois.  I’m not one to think that people should just sue others for the hell of it but wherever the players are that Beckman pushed to play while injured I hope like hell they sue him for all he’s worth, or at least every dime he made coaching at Illinois.  Real coaches encourage their players to work hard at rehab and come back when they can help the team.
• Ten teams went into the weekend unbeaten but only six survived.  TCU got blasted by undefeated Oklahoma St.  Michigan St. got hosed against Nebraska but I’m not going to get all teary eyed about that one.  Memphis’ dream of crashing the College Football Playoff party came to a end as Navy handled the Tigers.  And finally LSU got bulldozed by Alabama.  That leaves five Power 5 unbeaten teams; Clemson, Ohio St., Baylor, Iowa and Oklahoma St.  Houston is still unbeaten too but they are quite a ways out from crashing the standings.  Alabama looks good even with one loss but they still have a game against Mississippi St., a rivalry game to end the regular season against Auburn and the SEC Championship game against Florida.  Notre Dame and Stanford are still in the hunt but they will play an elimination game on November 28th.  LSU and Utah need some help to get back into the College Football Playoff discussion.
• Last week I said it would be Clemson, LSU, the Big Ten Champ and the Big 12 Champ in the playoffs and this week the only change I’m making is Alabama replacing LSU.  Notre Dame beat Pitt but they still have Stanford to go.  Clemson took out Florida St and now their path looks pretty clear until the ACC title game against North Carolina.  UNC is having a good year and they might take out Clemson but I’m not betting on that.  Watch out for the clash of the titans when Ohio St. plays Iowa for the Big Ten Championship and trip to the College Football Playoff.
• There weren’t any coaches fired after this weekend’s games…yet.  And in an even bigger surprise Purdue gave Darrell Hazel a vote of confidence and said he would return next year.  I’ll believe that when I see it but the only thing that makes me think they may stay true to it is the fact that there are so many coaching vacancies they may not want to have to hire the 15th best coach on the market.  Of course they could listen to me and go get Brock Spack, he isn’t going to be high on most teams radars but he would be a good fit and an excellent choice for the Boilermakers.

NFL Hott Reads

• The Lions started the house cleaning last week with 2 members of their offensive coaching staff and this week 90 year old owner Martha Firestone Ford fired Team President Tom Lewand and GM Martin Mayhew.  The widow of William Clay Ford finally decided she had had enough, although I’m not sure why she has kept Jim Caldwell other than the fact that he’s a nice man.  The final vestige of the Matt Millen front office staff has finally been swept away (Mayhew was Millen’s handpicked successor, yes that is as dumb as it sounds) and the Lions can finally get on the right path.  A new GM needs to be hired and allowed to pick his head coach and then they must decide if they are going to stick with Matt Stafford at QB or move on.  Stafford would be a sought after player if the Lions look to trade him because so many teams need a QB.  The Jets, Texans and Browns most prominently and potentially the Bills and 49ers could be in play.
• It’s a slow week in the NFL as far as news I want to talk about but late breaking on Tuesday is the fact that Andrew Luck suffered multiple abdominal injuries in the Colts win over Denver and will miss 2-6 weeks.  I picked Luck as my preseason MVP so it’s nice to know my jinxing powers are in full force.  This is Luck’s second stint on the bench with injury and he has been pretty bad when he’s actually played.
• Down to three unbeaten teams; Patriots, Bengals and Panthers.  I knew the Patriots and Bengals would be good although I didn’t know Andy Dalton would be in the MVP discussion.  He’s not going to win it (it’s Brady’s and he’s walking away with it) but he’s in the top 5.  Ron Rivera would be my choice as Coach of the Year but that’s because I can’t figure out how he’s got the Panthers undefeated at this point.  Truly a great coaching job by Rivera and his staff and the proof that sometimes the sum is greater than it’s parts.

 

The Hawkeyes took care of Maryland this weekend as they got a little healthier off of their bye week and they are 8-0 for the second time under Kirk Ferentz.  To say that the Hawkeyes aren’t getting a lot of respect is an understatement and ESPN’s band of idiots are leading the way.  The numbers don’t actually support any of the claims that Iowa’s schedule is weak at least not so far.  Yes the rest of the schedule isn’t very difficult but if you are to believe the talking heads somehow Iowa’s wins against Pitt (6-2), Wisconsin (7-2) and Northwestern (6-2) are in some way inferior to Alabama’s wins over the same Wisconsin team and let’s see who else, oh yeah Georgia (5-3), Tennessee and Arkansas (both 4-4).  They did beat a 7-2 Texas A&M team but they also lost to Ole Miss (in case you forgot like ESPN has Iowa hasn’t lost this season).  Clearly Stanford is better as they have beaten that juggernaut that is USC (5-3) and the mighty Bruins of UCLA (6-2) (a team that just about lost to Colorado this last weekend).  Oh yeah and they lost to a Northwestern team that Iowa destroyed 40-10.  Certainly Notre Dame has played a much tougher slate and done terrifically against it, right?  Let’s see, beat that same USC team and they gave Navy (6-1) and Temple (7-1) their only losses on the season, clearly the fighting Irish would dominate the American Athletic Conference.  Notre Dame is getting a whole lot of credit for their close loss to Clemson (it’s still 1 more loss than the Hawkeyes have).  I’m not arguing Iowa deserves more respect than Alabama, Stanford or Notre Dame but they deserve at least as much, they have earned it.

If we look ahead it is absolutely true that Iowa’s schedule looks easy.  The game this coming weekend at Indiana (4-4) is the toughest and it shouldn’t be that tough.  Iowa is taking a beating because somehow it is their fault that the Big Ten schedule has them avoiding Ohio St, Michigan and Michigan St.  It seems to get glossed over that Alabama doesn’t have to play Florida this season (a team that is surprising good) and Stanford doesn’t play the only other PAC-12 team worth a damn Utah because that’s the way scheduling goes sometimes when you have divisions.  By the way Notre Dame chose to stop scheduling Michigan so it could schedule ACC teams like Wake Forest and Virginia at least they are going to have to beat Pitt this weekend.  In case you are wondering I am becoming the biggest Pitt and LSU fan this weekend (the Tigers get Alabama).

The whole thing is going to work itself out if Iowa can remain undefeated.  #1 Ohio St. plays #6 Michigan St. (not to mention Michigan) and the winner is likely Iowa’s opponent in Indy.  #2 Baylor, #5 TCU and #12 Oklahoma St. all still have to play each other,  #3 Clemson gets #17 Florida St. this weekend.  #4 LSU plays at #7 Alabama (Go LSU) this Saturday also.  And #8 Notre Dame and  #9 Stanford play the last weekend of the regular season.  If Iowa can get to 12-0 and head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game there is no telling what will happen.  The Hawkeyes running game is as good as anyone’s and the defense is playing at a fantastic level.  Desmond King is an All-American and has been making game changing plays on an almost weekly basis and while I would certainly rather play Michigan St. because of Ohio St.’s ridiculous talent level I think Iowa can play with anyone.  And if the Hawkeyes have to play Ohio St. can we please make sure Cardale Jones is starting at QB and not JT Barrett, thanks.  As for all the consternation about what will happen to the Hawkeyes I will say this one thing for sure, if Iowa goes 13-0 by beating either Michigan St. or Ohio St. in the Big Ten Championship game there is no way the College Football Playoff committee leaves the Hawkeyes out.  That kind of thing only happens to Big 12 and PAC-12 teams.

College Football Hott Reads

• I think Clemson beats Florida St. this weekend and LSU takes down Alabama and then those two teams win out and secure two of the four spots in the College Football Playoff.  The other two spots go to the Big Ten Champion (as long as it’s an undefeated Ohio St, Michigan St or Iowa) and the Big 12 Champion (as long as it’s an undefeated Baylor, TCU or Oklahoma St).  The PAC-12 isn’t strong enough for a 1-loss team to end up ahead of four undefeated teams (doesn’t matter if it’s Stanford or Utah).  It would help if Notre Dame loses to Pitt this weekend and then takes down Stanford later this month and then Stanford knocks off Utah in the PAC-12 Championship game.  That would knock all of them out.
• Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer announced that he is retiring at the end of the season after 29 years as head coach of the Hokies.  Beamer is a legend and deserves to go out on his own terms and even though VA Tech isn’t having the type of season I’m sure he wishes to go out on his legacy is secure.  He made the program what it is and the next coach will benefit from the blood, sweat and tears Beamer invested to build the program.
• Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill retired this week effective immediately due to health issues.  His epilepsy has become too much of an issue and Kill had to put his life and his health first so he did not get to end his career on his own terms and it’s a shame.  Golden Gopher football existed before Kill but he had done a wonderful job in his time in Minneapolis and he is more than a good coach he’s a good man.  His press conference was heart-wrenching to say the least.  Best wishes to Coach Kill and I hope he lives a long and happy life.
• There is another coaching vacancy as Hawaii fired Norm Chow after they were destroyed Saturday by Air Force.  Chow made his name as a long-time, successful offensive coordinator but his tenure as Hawaii’s head man was less than spectacular.  Hawaii is a tough coaching gig due to a lack of resources and distance from any real recruiting ground so good luck to next coach at least he gets to live in Hawaii.
• Speaking of coaches on their way out have you seen what Mark Richt is doing at Georgia?  I’ve always liked Richt and I think he’s gotten a bad shake from the Bulldog faithful but he’s not helping himself this year as the team has underachieved and his handling of the QB position is ridiculous.  Did someone find him a three sided coin that he could flip because going between 2 QBs is bad enough but 3 is just crazy?  With all of the very good coaching jobs that are already available and the ones that could still become available it might be best for everyone if Richt finds himself a nice soft landing spot (Miami should have his agent on speed dial).
• Speaking of stupid 3-way QB battles what is Kevin Sumlin doing at Texas A&M?  Kyle Allen, Kyler Murray and Jake Hubenak are apparently locked in a battle Sumlin can’t figure out.  Maybe Richt can loan him that three sided coin he found.  The old football saying goes “if you have 2 QBs that means you don’t have one” but I’m updating it and say “if you can’t decide between your 3 QBs your head coach is an idiot”.  It’s not very often that I get to say this but these coaches should take a page out of Kirk Ferentz’s handbook and pick their guy and go with him, seems to be working for the 8-0 Hawkeyes.
• I am not one that can’t admit when I’m wrong so congrats to the Cyclones on their big win over Texas, you certainly drove one more nail in Charlie Strong’s coffin (he may not be dead though).  The Cyclones could potentially beat Kansas St. and West Virginia as neither team has looked particularly strong but they would need to upset either Oklahoma or Oklahoma St. to get bowl eligible.  I know they knocked off a ranked Cowboys team once before but don’t think for a second Mike Gundy and his boys don’t remember that one.  I can always hope they win just enough to keep Paul Rhoads around.
• The ACC suspended officials after they completely botched the crazy ending of the Miami-Duke game and cost Duke the win.  If you haven’t seen the 8 lateral free-for-all it’s worth a look and while everyone is up in arms about all the penalties the officials missed it is the fact that on the field and using replay they didn’t recognize a tackle when they saw it.  Pretty basic call for an official, players knee is down he’s down.  In the NFL he must be down by contact but not in college football; knee down=play over.  Oh yeah, he was actually down by contact too.  This is not surprising to me because this ACC crew is the same crew that worked the Iowa-Pitt game back in September and they were atrocious.  Iowa pulled out that win, I’m glad this officiating crew didn’t cost the Hawkeyes a victory.

NFL Hott Reads

• I’ve said before that I always want to root for former Hawkeye Jim Caldwell the current head coach of the Detroit Lions but that “current” part is tenuous at best.  The Lions fired their offensive coordinator and offensive line coach last week (it wasn’t the line coach’s fault he can’t make chicken salad out of of chicken feathers).  The Lions went to London this week and looked even more hapless against the Chiefs (not exactly a juggernaut themselves) and I’m sort of surprised Caldwell got a ride back from London with them.  He is not cut out to be a head coach and his days are numbered in Detroit.
• Colin Kaepernick is terrible and the 49ers are terrible with him and now they are benching him for Blaine Gabbert.  Read that last part again, they are benching him for BLAINE GABBERT.  Changes have to be made in San Francisco and it starts at QB.  Of course they may want to start with a new GM that can pick their new QB and then maybe a that GM can pick his new coach.  It’s not good when you have traded places with the Raiders and they are now the functional franchise in the Bay area.
• The Jets need a QB.  Badly.  And surprisingly it’s not because Ryan Fitzpatrick is bad it’s because he got hurt.  Geno Smith is either still hurt or just as terrible as I always thought.  I hope they have Tim Tebow’s number handy.  They can try Ryan Mallett but he might miss his flight.
• Two teams are surging behind the play of their two young signal callers.  The Raiders and Vikings have found the future of their franchises in Derek Carr and Teddy Bridgewater.  Both teams are potential playoff contenders and while play makers like Amari Cooper and Adrian Peterson deserve their credit too it’s the QBs that run the show and have given these teams legitimacy.
• Week 8 may be a turning point in the season for some teams and not in a good way.  Injuries took a particularly hard toll this week and it started Thursday night when the resurgent Dolphins defense lost Cameron Wake to a torn Achilles.  On Sunday a torn Achilles possibly ended the career of Steve Smith even though he is now saying he won’t retire and plans on returning next season.  The Steeler’s Le’Veon Bell torn up his knee as did Reggie Bush of the 49ers and both are likely done for the year.  Matt Forte hurt his knee but the Bears are being coy with any details.  Calvin Johnson got hurt too although it might not be too bad.  Seahawks WR Richardo Lockette sustained what must be a pretty serious concussion as he was out cold for a time on the field and taken off on a stretcher.  It seems like he didn’t suffer any sort of spinal damage that we know of but his was one of those scary injuries where he didn’t move for quite some time and was strapped to the stretcher before raising his hand on he way out of the stadium giving a sign of hope that his injury wasn’t life threatening.  Reports on Monday are that he injured ligaments in his neck but it doesn’t seem like he had structural damage to his neck.  Football is a violent game and this week was a stark reminder.
• The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday November 3rd and while lots of names will be talked about very little will happen.  Matt Forte’s name has been a prominent one but with an injury this weekend that should end that speculation.  The Browns are supposedly ready to deal everyone including All-World LT Joe Thomas but I suspect they will ask far too high of a price and will make very few deals.  No one wants the over bloated contracts of C Alex Mack and OLB Paul Kruger and OLB Barkevious Mingo has been less than impressive in his career.  TEs are a hot topic on the trade market as Vernon Davis, Jared Cook and Martellus Bennett are (or were) on the market.  The 49ers have sent Vernon Davis to Denver and while Davis hasn’t been great in the last two years I don’t think trading him away is going to help Colin Kaepernick…err…Blaine Gabbert.  He is an upgrade to the Broncos TE depth chart though.  Cook is overpaid and under productive in St. Louis.  Bennett would probably get Chicago some nice return on the market.
• I guess I was premature on the Peyton Manning career funeral as the Broncos pounded the Packers on Sunday night.  It certainly helps Manning that the Broncos found a running game and even if it was just for one night it was nice to see Manning looking good again.  He deserves to go out playing well and I do think regardless of how this season finishes he’s probably retiring at the end of the year.
• Funny thing happened when the Giants took on the Saints on Sunday, an Arena League game broke out.  Eli Manning threw 6 TDs while Drew Brees threw 7.  And of course the game came down to the Saints kicker hitting a 50-yarder to win it, I hate that ending for a game like that.